Lehigh Police Clamp Down After Killing Students Urged To Lock Up, 'Look Out For One Another'

April 07, 1986|The Morning Call

Lehigh University police have doubled patrols, ordered campus residences locked around-the-clock and taken other measures to tighten security following the slaying of a 19-year-old student whose body was found in her dormitory room Saturday.

Dead is Jeanne Ann Clery of Bryn Mawr, a member of the school's women's tennis team. She lived in Stoughton House, a dormitory on the eastern edge of the Lehigh campus, near Bethlehem's 8th Street.

Lehigh officials have sent letters to parents and members of the Lehigh community about the slaying. The campus letter stresses "common sense actions" to be taken by campus residents and urges students to "look out for one another." The letter from university President Peter Likins and Vice President for Student Affairs Marsha Duncan recommends students walk in groups in well-lighted areas, keep doors to rooms and cars locked, and promptly report anything suspicious to campus police.

The letter also advises people to seek professional guidance if they want to talk to a counselor about their reaction to the slaying.

"This tragedy deeply saddens all of us in the Lehigh family," said the one-page letter to the Lehigh community. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Jeanne's family and friends during this difficult time. This has been a particularly difficult time for the residents of Stoughton and the rest of the Lower Centennial complex, and your understanding and support are appreciated."

The letter that will be sent to parents was not available late last night.

Eugene Dax, campus police chief, said last night that since Clery's slaying, he has "doubled the shifts" of campus police and has instructed them to walk through the buildings on a regular basis rather than periodically, as was done earlier.

Students have been warned to take additional personal security measures, and officials at the university have decided to lock residence halls 24 hours a day until further notice, he said.

Meanwhile, Dax said university officials and students are upset and saddened by Clery's death.

"We have had our share of complaints and problems regarding security on the campus, but we've had nothing this serious in all my years here.

"Maybe there's a homicide in Allentown or other cities every week, but we have not had much violent crime on the campus," said Dax.

Stoughton House has a student lounge on the first floor, rooms for 20-22 male students on the second floor and quarters for 20-22 female students on the third floor.

Prior to Saturday, residence halls were locked only after 10 p.m., when students used keys to enter.

Also after 10 p.m., entrance from the Stoughton House second floor to the third floor or vice-versa, could have been gained only by a resident responding to a knock or other signal, it was reported.

Prior to the discovery of Clery's body, anyone would have had free access to the third floor of Stoughton House up to 10 p.m.

A search of The Morning Call's files concerning incidents related to campus security, revealed the following:

- An unidentified freshman student at Lehigh bought a foot-long chain saw, damaged several doors and ceiling tiles with it, and then cut a tree outside a dormitory on Sept. 20, 1985. Campus police confiscated the saw from the student without incident and released him to the custody of his parents. Legal complaints or disciplinary action were pending.

- On or about May 24, 1984, a lawsuit against the university was settled by a graduate student who charged earlier that the college failed to send help when her boyfriend notified the campus police that a man was harassing her in the residence hall where she was raped Dec. 3, 1981. Robert Bell of Oxon, Md., also a Lehigh student, was found guilty of the rape and was sentenced to 18 months to 51 months in jail.

- An early morning fire on Jan. 30, 1984, summoned Bethlehem firemen to a Lehigh University dormitory where they found an emergency exit door chained shut. No citation for a safety violation was issued pending an investigation by university officials. The minor blaze had forced 300 students to flee their campus dormitory when a fire broke out in a first floor lounge of McClintic- Marshall House, where $100,000 in damages occurred, caused mostly by smoke and soot.

- A hammer beating on Lehigh University's campus was reported on Aug. 22, 1985, when Phillip Killo of Bethlehem was abducted from a South Bethlehem street. He was taken by car to the Saucon Fields on Lehigh campus, where he was allegedly beaten on the head with a hammer, punched and kicked. Two Bethlehem men, Paul Serrano and Jeffrey Kent, were charged in the attack which reportedly occurred because Killo had testified against Serrano the day before in a South Whitehall Township burglary case which was being tried in Lehigh County Court.